I'm primarily a windows user. For a while now I've been intrigued by the Linux based OS for it's stand out features and differences compared to windows.

I have been booting Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora) on flash drives for years and to be honest never been totally convinced, as something always seemed to go wrong. I expect because using flash drives is not the most reliable way to run any OS. Also, there has always been a certain amount of work involved getting something as basic as You Tube videos to work on Linux. As a Windows user (and most Linux newbies will be) I have found the initial process of manually configuring Linux to do things you take for granted on Windows quite off putting. For some Windows users (and potential converts) this learning curve will be too much. Whilst I am not suggesting Linux should be dumbed down I would like to see Linux even more accessible for the average user. I think Mint has gone a long way in doing this. It's all about confidence isn't it. Once you're using it, it's like the first time you started you used Windows all those years ago. Although may be not as painful

I have Windows 8 installed on my internal hard drive, and I recently purchased a SATA docking station for an external drive. I installed Linux Mint 'Nadia' on it (disconnecting my internal drive first to avoid any mishaps) and for the first time I've been able to start using Linux properly. It has been a revelation.

It seems to me there really is a solid, stable and feature rich (and let's not forget free) alternative to Windows. Again, I'm thinking about the average user (which I consider myself to be). I have shown my friends how 'cool' Linux Mint is and that it plays media and windows games with playonlinux (in most instances, and certainly since I installed the latest Nvidia graphics drivers) on par or close to Windows. Of course when I need to get serious it has all the producivity software I need too.

I am still trying to get to grips with the whole terminal input and how to install programs. I struggle to install the most basic things so I am constantly googling help. However I am a litle more confident now and hope to learn some more using this forum.

Thanks everyone, and who knows maybe I will be able to answer some of your questions some time soon..

Good for you. Like you just coming back last 2 months. As originally a Ubuntu user 2006-2007 but left due to a lack of applications for my Photography works. So winter time and less photo shoots to do due to weather.

So thought to check out Ubuntu again. Tried but hated the whole Unity thing and found it wanting more keyboard use which is counter to my mostly mouse use when using apps and such. So started searching and didn't have to search hard or long.

Gave Mint 14 Cinnamon a whirl and just felt like my kind of fit. Couple of bugs here and there like my wifi disconnects 2-4 times every 12 hrs. And a couple of other minor annoyances. But a very well done slick Desktop done Right! For Me anyways!

And then started to search for apps that would do serious photo editing as Gimp is out for me as Hate It!. And lo & Behold there is darktable & RawTherapee both serious editing programs for Image Editing. As can't fool around when my Clients like Getty only want the Best products to sell to Corporations & Businesses around the world. So I can't play around with linux making it work.

So far seems to be working except for the steep learning curve in darktable. But I dual boot with Win7 and still have Lightroom for time crunch projects. And continue to learn darktable and so far clients haven't made any negative observations about images delivered to them. So will see how it goes in the long run. But So Far am Impressed!.